Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Yet another class action complaint against Google over its Google Play app store practices: claims under Sherman Act and competition laws of 27 states

Earlier today I blogged about the flood of antitrust class actions over app distribution terms. In that case, it was about a new lawsuit brought against Apple in the Superior Court of California. But class action lawyers also have Google in their cross-hairs. Today a consumer class named Bentley et al. proposes to relate its case, which is just a few days old, to Epic Games v. Google and a few other Google Play class actions.

Here's the complaint, which was filed in the Northern District of California on Friday (this post continues below the document):

20-10-09 Bentley Et Al. v. ... by Florian Mueller

That makes it the fourth class action against Google over the Google Play app store in that district. The earlier-filed cases are Carr v. Google (a consumer class like Bentley) and two app developer cases, Pure Sweat Basketball v. Google and Peekya Services v. Google, notably represented by Bonny Sweeney (same family name as Epic Games' CEO).

The new Bentley complaint brings claims under § 2 Sherman Act, § 1 Sherman Act, and the following 27 state competition laws (starting with California, thereafter in alphabetical order) that the class action lawyers apparently deem favorable to their cause and where they have been able to recruit class action members that paid for Android app downloads and/or in-app purchases:

  1. California Cartwright Act

  2. Arizona Unform State Antitrust Act

  3. District of Columbia Antitrust Act

  4. Hawaii Antitrust Laws

  5. Illinois Antitrust Act

  6. Iowa Competition Law

  7. Kansas Restraint of Trade Act

  8. Maine Monopoly & Profiteering Laws

  9. Maryland Antitrust Laws

  10. Massachusetts Consumer Protection Laws

  11. Michigan Antitrust Reform Act

  12. Minnesota Antitrust Law of 1971

  13. Mississippi Antitrust Laws

  14. Nebraska Junkin Act

  15. Nevada Unfair Trade Practices Act

  16. New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act

  17. New Mexico Antitrust Act

  18. New York Donnelly Act

  19. North Carolina Antitrust Laws

  20. North Dakota Uniform State Antitrust Act

  21. Oregon Antitrust Law

  22. South Dakota Antitrust Laws

  23. Tennessee Trade Practices Act

  24. Utah Antitrust Act

  25. Vermont Consumer Protection Laws

  26. West Virginia Antitrust Act

  27. Wisconsin Trade Regulations

That's what they call diversity jurisdiction.

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